Ideas on my laptop/tablet setup idea for med school?

[PremeditatedPremed]

Hi SDN,

Sorry to add to the pile of "what tech should I get" threads, but was hoping for some perspective. I was thrilled to be admitted recently and now I'm trying to figure out what tech to get (my current setup is on its last legs) - so a new laptop, a new phone, and possibly a tablet.

From what I've gathered, having a stylus or touchscreen to write over Powerpoints is useful, so I was thinking of pairing an iPad (probably the ~$300 regular one + $100 stylus) with the new Macbook M1 Air/Macbook M1 Pro (~$800 and ~$1200) to have a laptop and stylus functionality. I would probably use SideCar to have Powerpoints open for annotations during lectures while using the laptop to look things up, check email, etc. I was tempted by the Surface Pro 7 (~$750) but it compares so poorly to the new M1 Air that I thought Apple would actually be a better long-term value proposition in this case (!). As for the phone, I know any flagship will be fine for school but was wondering how much functionality I'd lose going with an Android instead of an iPhone if my other tech is Apple. For any current students, how reasonable does this setup sound? Or does anyone have ideas for other devices that would work better? Thanks so much!

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[Ganon]

A surface would save you toooons of money by being your all-in-one.

That said, I do a similar mac setup to what you describe, and some of the benefits are very neat. Mac is worth it if you already use it, prefer the interface, and are okay with being a little fleeced when it comes to price.

 

[scoopdaboop]

If u have money to blow, you should easily get like a Asus G14 + ipad combo over ANYTHING macbook related. You'll have more free time than you think, and being able to game is nice.

Also, you're assuming some things: 1- Sounds like you never used an ipad... so you're assuming that you will actually use your ipad for studying... my school gave us all ipads, and I have rarely used it to study cuz it's just more annoying that pulling up a powerpoint in my laptop etc. Also, there are lots of ppt's so managing all the files on my ipad would be annoying.

So before you invest some money on an ipad, I would wait. But if it's just 300 bucks, the ipad is a god send netflix/media consumption device, so it might be worth getting for that. You can rest it on ur belly in bed and it weighs nothing and have a good time

 

[BluMist]

would also check with your school IT whether M1 is an approved option before spending all that $

 

[PremeditatedPremed]

If u have money to blow, you should easily get like a Asus G14 + ipad combo over ANYTHING macbook related. You'll have more free time than you think, and being able to game is nice.

Also, you're assuming some things: 1- Sounds like you never used an ipad... so you're assuming that you will actually use your ipad for studying... my school gave us all ipads, and I have rarely used it to study cuz it's just more annoying that pulling up a powerpoint in my laptop etc. Also, there are lots of ppt's so managing all the files on my ipad would be annoying.

So before you invest some money on an ipad, I would wait. But if it's just 300 bucks, the ipad is a god send netflix/media consumption device, so it might be worth getting for that. You can rest it on ur belly in bed and it weighs nothing and have a good time

I would probably use the iPad less to study and more to write during lectures. I tend to process information better when I'm physically writing, so I was thinking of using it for that... laying it on my belly to binge watch Netflix does sound nice though 😁

I have a windows desktop for any gaming (though the GPU is so old, thanks for jacking up prices crypto), so my laptop just needs to be super reliable, portable, etc. The new Macbooks actually are extremely competitive for non-gaming productivity performance, its pretty shocking what the new ARM architecture is capable of. And this is coming from a longtime windows fan

 

[Redpancreas]

Hi SDN,

Sorry to add to the pile of "what tech should I get" threads, but was hoping for some perspective. I was thrilled to be admitted recently and now I'm trying to figure out what tech to get (my current setup is on its last legs) - so a new laptop, a new phone, and possibly a tablet.

From what I've gathered, having a stylus or touchscreen to write over Powerpoints is useful, so I was thinking of pairing an iPad (probably the ~$300 regular one + $100 stylus) with the new Macbook M1 Air/Macbook M1 Pro (~$800 and ~$1200) to have a laptop and stylus functionality. I would probably use SideCar to have Powerpoints open for annotations during lectures while using the laptop to look things up, check email, etc. I was tempted by the Surface Pro 7 (~$750) but it compares so poorly to the new M1 Air that I thought Apple would actually be a better long-term value proposition in this case (!). As for the phone, I know any flagship will be fine for school but was wondering how much functionality I'd lose going with an Android instead of an iPhone if my other tech is Apple. For any current students, how reasonable does this setup sound? Or does anyone have ideas for other devices that would work better? Thanks so much!

This is what I'd recommend. You may not like it as I feel tons of incoming medical students want to invest in tech as a reward for getting into medical school (at least this is how I felt, I ended up wasting money).

1. Forget the portables. Invest in a high powered Windows desktop with multiple screens and choose to study at home.
2. If you go to class, sit in the front row, and annotate lecture notes with 4-colored pens.
3. Store your notes in a 1" binder and while studying have them on a vertical bookstand and then have 3-4 other mounted screens dedicated to different things like the lecture slides if they're different, the PDF of USMLE First Aid, Anki, etc.
4. During M3/M4, you will not need to pull out an IPad during rounds so the portable isn't really a good investment. You will use a point of care medical resource called UptoDate which you'll access on your phone.

If you choose to go with Surface, I don't like it because I think it's underpowered IMO. I also don't like Apple Pen and that whole deal. I ended up using my IPad as an in-bed entertainment device that I didn't need to clear memory off of, kept my SDN, Reddit, etc., Netflix, etc account logged in. None of my other devices remembered any of that stuff. It was perfect.

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

This sounds fine. I use a $100 refurbished touch screen chromebook as my poor man's sidecar and invested in the $1300 Mac because I'm confident it will last through school (cannot say the same for past Dells, HPs and lenovos unfortunately). An iPad would be nice although the full extra laptop has more functionality for me. The iPads just require more fiddling and don't have the speed that I want if I need to look something up while I have a lecture or zoom call going on my main screen. I have an iPhone 6 so I say don't overthink the phone.

Edit: if you're going out of state figure out which state has lower sales tax and buy there! I would have saved myself about $50 if I'd done this.

 

[Redpancreas]

This sounds fine. I use a $100 refurbished touch screen chromebook as my poor man's sidecar and invested in the $1300 Mac because I'm confident it will last through school (cannot say the same for past Dells, HPs and lenovos unfortunately). An iPad would be nice although the full extra laptop has more functionality for me. The iPads just require more fiddling and don't have the speed that I want if I need to look something up while I have a lecture or zoom call going on my main screen. I have an iPhone 6 so I say don't overthink the phone.

Edit: if you're going out of state figure out which state has lower sales tax and buy there! I would have saved myself about $50 if I'd done this.

That's maybe something I'd recommend OP. If you want to upgrade/reward, by an Apple Watch or more updated IPhone.

 

[diamondkings]

Hi SDN,

Sorry to add to the pile of "what tech should I get" threads, but was hoping for some perspective. I was thrilled to be admitted recently and now I'm trying to figure out what tech to get (my current setup is on its last legs) - so a new laptop, a new phone, and possibly a tablet.

From what I've gathered, having a stylus or touchscreen to write over Powerpoints is useful, so I was thinking of pairing an iPad (probably the ~$300 regular one + $100 stylus) with the new Macbook M1 Air/Macbook M1 Pro (~$800 and ~$1200) to have a laptop and stylus functionality. I would probably use SideCar to have Powerpoints open for annotations during lectures while using the laptop to look things up, check email, etc. I was tempted by the Surface Pro 7 (~$750) but it compares so poorly to the new M1 Air that I thought Apple would actually be a better long-term value proposition in this case (!). As for the phone, I know any flagship will be fine for school but was wondering how much functionality I'd lose going with an Android instead of an iPhone if my other tech is Apple. For any current students, how reasonable does this setup sound? Or does anyone have ideas for other devices that would work better? Thanks so much!

Current M1, and I ended up doing the most and got both a new Macbook Pro and an Ipad Pro 12.9. After almost finishing up year one, it was overkill for sure. I had some money saved up so at least I didn't use loans on them, but if I could do it over again, I studied exclusively at home, so a desktop would have been a really smart move. The ipad is nice, but I annotate on it very little. It is 100% used for streaming shows and goofing off. My laptop stays docked with my 2 external monitors. I tell myself it was worth it bc I love apple, but there are definitely other viable options to consider.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

check your school's exam software requirements before buying any tech. Some schools require students to have laptops for in person exams or activities (at least in a pre covid world) and use exam software that can't be run on a tablet. any mac laptop should be fine for that but an ipad wouldn't be, so good to know in advance

 

[MedScat]

I splurged on the MacBook pro, newest iPad, and i already had an iPhone and watch and the fact that they are all integrated is amazing. If you can do that with any of these other more affordable products then do it but, I think having them all integrated is a huge huge pro. For example, I can get text messages on my computer or my watch, see emails on my watch when I'm on clinical, respond to texts on my watch iPad. I can press copy and on my laptop and hit paste on my phone and it'll paste what I copied on my lap top. I can split screen using my iPad so its like having two screens. I'm a big fan of this integration.

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Currently using a Windows desktop + surface pro + android setup. Now I'm insanely jealous of students with a full Apple setup. The unified ecosystem and integration is worth it imo. An iPad + MacBook to study outside of home is nice (one screen for lecture notes, the other for videos/powerpoints)

 

[Steve_Zissou]

I had a HP Spectre x360 (bought before med school) for 1st and second year, which was great because I handwrite notes to memorize and having an awesome 360 laptop with a massive screen let me use it as a big drawing board often.

My screen broke not too long ago so I recently got a MacBook Air with the M1 chip and it has blown me away. Battery life + speed + light weight make for a fantastic laptop. I also got some AirPod Pros, which combined with my iPhone and new MacBook and school sponsored iPad, make for a great combo.

 

[theendisnigh]

Laptop + 8 gb RAM surface pro. Laptop to watch lectures and surface to take notes. I use OneDrive to store all my lectures and for the ecosystem across android + windows devices. My surface has lasted me 5 years with heavy use and still runs amazingly well.